Volume 5, Chapter 6 – The Beginning of the War

“I have summoned you, my lords, in light of yesterday’s declaration of war from the Alfrieg Kingdom and the Cold Night Kingdom.”

Within the grand and solemn audience hall, a place that exuded royal luxury at every turn, countless nobles and ministers of Silvar were gathered. They were divided into civil and military factions, standing on the left and right sides of the hall, respectively. Seated on the high throne was the Elf King Yelido, his shoulder-length golden hair framing a face that appeared to be in its early thirties in human years. At this moment, Yelido’s expression was exceptionally grim, and the king’s oppressive aura kept the nobles below from even daring to breathe too loudly.

The news Fia had learned last night had already reached these nobles on their way here. Although the combined strength of the Alfrieg Kingdom and the Cold Night Kingdom was less than Silvar’s, their choice to stir up trouble during the Netherworld’s winter offensive, and at a time when the western front with the Milcandis Holy Kingdom had not yet been withdrawn, made the situation somewhat difficult.

The betrayal of the Cold Night Kingdom was particularly grating. They were supposed to be a nail Silvar had driven into the side of the Alfrieg Kingdom, yet now they had suddenly allied with Alfrieg to turn on them. The feeling of being bitten by a dog one had raised was something no one would take well.

No one dared to be the first to speak. All the nobles and ministers simply waited anxiously for Yelido to finish.

“Alfrieg has gone back on its word, and the Cold Night has betrayed our trust. What are your thoughts, my lords?”

The first to step forward was Kalsey. He moved from behind Fia to the center of the path and spoke in a resonant voice that all could hear.

“Four years ago, when the Cold Night Kingdom was invaded by the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, we not only provided them with intelligence but also with weapons and food. Now they turn and bite us. They should be severely punished to let the surrounding countries know that the majesty of Silvar is not to be provoked by anyone!”

“I also agree with the Second Prince’s words. However, the Empire’s currently available forces are insufficient for a three-front war. It will take at least half a month to withdraw the army from the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, and the winter offensive is about to begin. Most of our forces must be concentrated on the southern front against the Netherworld.”

“The best strategy at present is to order the soldiers stationed in Baron Khesa’s territory to hold their ground, relying on the terrain, while dispatching a small elite force to infiltrate and harass the Alfrieg Kingdom. Once the main force withdrawn from the Milcandis Holy Kingdom arrives, we can engage them in a decisive battle. If Your Majesty has faith in me, I am willing to lead the expedition. I need only ten thousand men to crush Alfrieg.”

Echoing Kalsey, a rather young-looking man from the military department stepped forward. Fia recognized him; he was Godley’s younger brother, Gwyn, the second son of the Greyan family.

Because he was Godley’s full-blooded brother, Fia paid special attention to Gwyn. According to the report submitted by Erin Slate, Gwyn and his brother Godley were like people from two different worlds, as if God had given all the good things to Gwyn and concentrated all the flaws in Godley. Gwyn was rational and just, secretly designated by the family as the successor of the Greyan house.

Upon learning of Godley’s failed coup, Gwyn, who had returned with Yelido’s expedition, was so frightened he nearly collapsed, unable to understand why his brother would make such a foolish decision. However, Gwyn was clearly much more capable than his brother. He first took the initiative to plead guilty before Fia and Yelido, then assisted Erin Slate in apprehending all members involved in the coup. Yelido, mindful of the Greyan family’s contributions to Silvar, did not purge Gwyn as well, merely transferring him from his important official post.

Gwyn’s volunteering this time was likely an attempt to regain favor and prevent the Greyan family from being tarnished, thought Fia, who was standing at the forefront. She didn’t want to waste her thoughts on these matters. It didn’t matter who went to deal with the Alfrieg Kingdom. As long as Gwyn didn’t harm her as his brother might have, he could do as he pleased.

“Ten thousand men!”

“Ten thousand is far too few, no matter how you look at it.”

The moment Gwyn finished speaking, the hall erupted as if a depth charge had been dropped. Although the Alfrieg Kingdom was not as powerful as Silvar, it was an old human empire. Compared to Silvar, Alfrieg was closer to Baron Khesa’s territory, giving them an advantage in both support and logistics. Taking only ten thousand men was far too few.

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Faced with the crowd’s doubts, Gwyn appeared extremely confident.

“Ten thousand men will be sufficient. The Alfrieg Kingdom has not seen war in many years and has forgotten its face. The area around Baron Khesa’s territory is all desert, making their own supply lines difficult. As long as we crush the main force they commit to this war, combined with the defeat of the Cold Night Kingdom on the other side, and with the precedent of the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, they will not have the courage to commit more forces to a war of attrition with us. I fear even this so-called declaration of war is merely a bargaining chip to get us to add more food and gold coins. Your Majesty, if the campaign fails, I am willing to bear full responsibility.”

After speaking, Gwyn knelt on one knee, posturing as if he would lead the men out immediately with a nod from Yelido.

Yelido’s red eyes first fell on Fia. Seeing that she had no objections, he slowly nodded.

“I will dispatch ten thousand men from the northern border for you. In half a month, I will send another ten thousand from the western front. Amo will supervise the battle. I want you to push into the heartland of the Alfrieg Kingdom and teach them a lesson.”

“This subject accepts the decree.”

Without any hesitation, and with a look of intense joy on his face, Gwyn accepted. The others looked on with envy but could do nothing. They lacked Gwyn’s confidence to believe they could hold off the Alfrieg Kingdom’s offensive with just ten thousand men. The current war situation was very unclear, with much intelligence still missing. No one knew how much Alfrieg was betting on this war. If they threw in everything they had, defending Baron Khesa’s territory with only ten thousand men was simply a fantasy.

“With Gwyn to face the Alfrieg Kingdom, who will deal with the remaining Cold Night?”

Yelido’s gaze swept over the crowd. Compared to the Alfrieg Kingdom, from which detailed information had yet to arrive due to the long distance, Blossom’s intelligence on the Cold Night Kingdom was much clearer.

According to current intelligence, the reason for the Cold Night Kingdom’s betrayal was internal political turmoil, with three opposing factions having emerged. The Cold Night Kingdom was originally a peculiar nation. The land they lived on had scarce rainfall and was crisscrossed by mountains, with very little arable land. Furthermore, the beastfolk were subdivided into many groups, such as the Lionfolk, Fox Tribe, Wolf Tribe, and so on. Each of these races had its own customs, so they hadn’t been able to form a large, unified nation like other races, and could only live together in the form of tribes.

This led to the beastfolk being bullied everywhere, just like the elves ten thousand years ago, with anyone able to step on them. This chaotic situation ended four hundred years ago, shortly after Silvar was founded, with the appearance of a Tiger-kin Holy Son. She used the long years of oppression the beastfolk suffered under the Alfrieg Kingdom to establish the unified concept of “beastfolk,” thereby uniting the various tribes into an alliance-nation called Cold Night, and thus the Cold Night Kingdom was established.

However, this Tiger-kin Holy Son failed to fundamentally solve the problem of the tribes living in separate communities. The concept of race still existed in the hearts of the beastfolk, and the implementation of the alliance’s various decisions was actually decided by an organization similar to a parliament, called the Council of Elders. A parliamentary structure was inevitably accompanied by competition for seats. The powerful races occupied the majority of the seats, and thus many of the decisions promoted by the council naturally favored the races that held more elder seats, leading to situations where the interests of weaker races were neglected and sacrificed.

In the past, with the Holy Son maintaining the balance, this system, though not satisfactory to all, could barely function. But now that the Holy Son had long since died, such a system could no longer be maintained, and it ended with the Lionfolk violently usurping power from the Tiger-kin and establishing themselves as kings.

Many years had passed, and the current Cold Night Kingdom existed in name only. The internal Holy Son faction, the Royalist faction, and the Regressionist faction (referring to a return to the past state of tribal communities) were all at odds with each other, each wanting to promote its own ideology. The three factions were in constant conflict. Apart from not having reached the point of carving up territory and fighting openly, they had done everything else they could.

The current decision for war was the idea of both the Holy Son faction and the Royalist faction. Both sides believed that a war could end the domestic disputes. Their thinking was simple: the Holy Son faction wanted to gain merit in the war to win the support of other tribes in the country, while the Royalist faction hoped to use the war to ease the pressure from the other two factions and regain the hearts of the people they were losing.

However, their choice of opponent was far from commendable. Current intelligence suggested that although the Holy Son faction supported the decision for war, they did not know that the Royalist faction’s target was Silvar and not Alfrieg. The intelligence was rather chaotic.

It was worth noting that this was not due to Silvar’s lack of capability. This world had neither specialized intelligence agencies nor embassies to collect information, and it lacked an instant communication network. In addition, the Cold Night Kingdom was a country with many mountains and few roads, inconvenient transportation, and complex languages. Trying to figure out the relationships between their tribes was as difficult as figuring out how many gangs of ants there were on a mountain.

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However, one thing was certain: the Cold Night Kingdom was taking this war very seriously, having committed over ten thousand troops. Although the beastfolk’s warfare was often disorganized and their military discipline was exceptionally lax, their individual strength was extremely high, making them an opponent that could cause great losses if one were to be even slightly careless.

“Father, your son is willing to serve the country. The Cold Night has betrayed our trust. In this battle, I will make the Lionfolk who made the decision for war pay the price.”

Just as Gwyn had done before, Kalsey stepped forward and volunteered.

“Good. Kalsey, you will be fully responsible for the matter of the Cold Night.”

Without hesitation, Yelido agreed. Kalsey’s ability to get things done was actually extremely outstanding; it was just that he was overshadowed by Fia’s halo, making him seem less conspicuous.

But Yelido’s tone then shifted, and Fia soon felt his gaze fall upon her. She had a bad feeling.

“Dofi, you will supervise Kalsey.”

Huh?

Does that mean I’m supposed to supervise the battle?

Fia’s expression turned strange. She had indeed told her father she was going to the Cold Night Kingdom in the south, but she definitely hadn’t intended to claim any military achievements.

However, the current situation did not allow her to directly refute Yelido. She thought for a second before answering.

“Father, I have more important matters to attend to. I cannot go to supervise the battle.”

“What matters?”

“I am going to the south to restore the lands that have died due to the Abyss. Kalsey and Gwyn are sufficient for the external war. Restoring the land is something only I can do.”

The moment Fia’s words fell, the hall grew noisy. The dead lands in the south covered tens of thousands square kilometers. For Fia to do it alone seemed like an exaggeration.

Yelido frowned slightly.

“By yourself?”

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“I alone am sufficient. If Father does not believe me, I can demonstrate it for you on the outskirts of the royal capital.”

“Hmm…” A thoughtful rumble came from Yelido’s throat. A moment later, his brows relaxed. “I will give you the magic casters of the Elf Tower. Take them with you to restore the lands of Count Yureidon’s territory. His territory borders the Cold Night Kingdom. While you are restoring the soil’s vitality, you may come into contact with their soldiers.”

The subtext was probably that if she wanted to attack the Cold Night Kingdom, she could launch an offensive at any time with the magic casters following her. As for why her father was pushing her to the front lines, the answer was surely to let her accumulate prestige in the military. In the tens of thousands of years of elf history, there had never been a king who could not lead troops into battle; it had become an elf tradition.

In terms of strength, although the beastfolk were individually powerful, the elves were not to be trifled with either. In large-scale group battles, as long as they formed up properly and used tactics appropriately, the beastfolk would be easily defeated.

But even if it comes to that, I’m not going to carry out a massacre on the front lines. At most, I’ll deal with the decision-makers in the rear, Fia answered playfully in her heart. As long as she took out the head that made the decisions, the body that carried them out would naturally shut down. She had no interest in slaughtering ordinary soldiers.

Without letting this thought show on her face, Fia lowered her head slightly.

“Thank you, Father.”

With the two most important issues resolved, the rest of the proceedings went quickly.

First was determining which soldiers would follow Gwyn and Kalsey, and then deciding which nobles would be responsible for logistics.

Because of Prince Schain’s death, many areas within Silvar had become “ownerless lands,” so the nobles who usually liked to shirk responsibility were now scrambling to offer help, hoping to gain more land as a reward for their merits. The variety of supplies offered by these nobles was staggering. Many were even willing to directly provide soldiers from their own territories to assist in the battle. The sheer numbers once again made Fia feel the difference in national power.

If not for being the darling daughter of the goddess of fortune, it would be impossible to become the Eldest Princess of Silvar.

In just an hour, Yelido’s audience ended with the nobles vying for merits. As Yelido dismissed the court, the nobles and ministers gradually left the hall, eventually leaving only Fia and Erin Slate in the vast space.

“Your Highness, when do you plan to depart for Count Yureidon’s territory?”

Erin Slate came before Fia and asked. Due to her duties, she could not accompany Fia to the south, and could only send people to stay by Fia’s side to protect her and maintain contact between her and the organization.

“I’ll set out in three days. I don’t want to drag it out for too long.”

As for taking Claire to see Yulisha, Fia planned to do that this afternoon.

Erin Slate, dressed in a black gauze gown, bowed deeply to Fia.

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“This subordinate understands. It’s just…”

“Just?”

“It’s just that this subordinate has heard that you gave the Witch Sanctuary a name of their own. This subordinate was thinking, should our organization also have its own name? Although it’s not impossible to continue calling it ‘the organization,’ it always feels like something is missing…”

“A name again…”

Why is it always naming things? Fia complained inwardly. Naming things was her worst skill.

She thought for a moment, then remembered some text she had seen in the library last night and said casually.

“Let’s call it the Twilight Flower. Since we operate in the shadows, this name couldn’t be more fitting.”

Erin Slate’s golden eyes lit up slightly.

“Twilight Flower… It does indeed fit your image of black hair and red eyes. This subordinate will go and inform the others in the organization. From now on, we will use Twilight Flower as our name.”

It was approved just like that?

Fia was relieved but also felt the decision was too hasty. She had been mentally prepared for Erin Slate to laugh at her, but she didn’t expect her to agree so readily.

However, the arrow had already been loosed from the bow; it was too late for regrets. She could only pretend that nothing had happened—at worst, she could find an opportunity to change the name later.

“Ah, go on, then. Remember to send over the gift prepared for Mother Yulisha later.”

“This subordinate will keep it in mind.”

Now, as long as I take Claire to see Mother Yulisha, I can leave the ever-watchful Blossom and see the world outside Silvar with my companions.

With beautiful hopes for the future, Fia walked out of the hall and stretched her arms long.